Pursuit of the Lost Ones
by Max Cio
Summary: What happens if Leo, Piper, Jason, and Annabeth go on a quest to look for Percy and make an alliance with the Romans, while Carter and Sadie are on their own personal quest to look for Zia? When the two clash, secrets are revealed, and chaos is rising...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**Sadie Kane**

I was not in a good mood today. Yeah, I think that pretty much summarizes it up.

Not only was my brother being a bloody fool moping around the house, mourning about Zia every few seconds, and not even bothering help me train the initiates, Khufu had thrown a mixture of milk, radish and other various spices on the floor when an animal trainer had tried to get him out of his C-eating phrase. Guess who had to clean it up? The animal trainer Cara had just muttered an apology, and then bolted straight up to her room. So that leaves on one person on the list, with Carter going emo and the rest of the initiates scattered across the house, probably trying to avoid the smell.

It smelled pretty bad too, and I had to stop breathing for a moment or two to get the smell out of my head. I closed my eyes, and rubbed the floor with a mop, cursing Cara under my breath. I mean God, why did she ever try to do such a stupid thing?

"Sadie!" Carter's voice ran down the hall, practically bursting with joy. "I think I've found something important!"

I heaved a groan. What could be more important than this? Sighing, I turned around, and face my stupid brother. "What?" I snapped, not really in the best of moods today. "Can't you see I'm-"

Carter wrinkled his nose. "Hey, what's that smell?"

"Ask Cara later. I think she knows a lot about that."

"Um, okay..." Although slightly demented, at least he knew when not to press the topic. "Anyways," Carter began, "I've found a lead on Zia-"

"You mean another false lead," I muttered. "Go going Carter."

"It's not a false lead," Carter insisted. "I know this one is true. She's a reliable source!"

I snickered. "Did you search on the underground Wiki?"

"No, I asked around, made some phone calls-"

"Ahah! So you're the one who used up my entire load in the phone!" I exclaimed. Who ever knew it was him? I blamed Jasper for that last week. Wrong culprit.

"What? It was for something important," Carter protested.

I looked up to the solid brother I once knew. Although he claimed to be slightly over Zia, I knew the difference between lies and the truth. He had been okay from the start, but each day that flew by, he got more and more obsessed about finding her that it turned him...into that. Jumping on every clue or the slightest hint about her. Dragging me along across the planet, just to look for whispered rumors. And I hated it. Hated the fact that my brother was turning into some kind of stalker. But then for the sake of the world, I'm trying to control my temper, and not to lash out at him every three seconds. At least I can say I tried.

"Fine," I sighed again. I could play this game...just to humor him though. Not to do anything else. "What is it?"

His eyes brightened. "In Florida I'll tell you."

"Wait, Florida?" I burst out, not expecting this. "No, you are not taking me there! In case you haven't noticed, we have students here to train." I tried to make me voice firm, but what came out sounded like a nagging mother who enjoyed nagging.

"Come on Sadie," Carter persisted, "there's supposed to be a girl called Cassandra there, who knows it all-"

"A know it all?" It took all my strength to not burst out in laughter.

Carter frowned. "Very funny."

I didn't know what to do anymore. Personally, if we ever found Zia, I wouldn't give a damn if she was hosting Nephthys or not, I'd kill her for turning my brother into this damn mess. "Carter-"

"You know what?" Carter's eyes darkened and he took a step away from me. "Never mind. I'll go alone."

"Are you insane?" I stared at him in shock. "You can't!"

"I can, and I will," Carter said stubbornly.

"Don't be a fool," I said, although he was being a fool all of the time. "Come on, there are more important things here."

"I can't believe that you're acting like this," Carter said. "I know now that I work alone." He turned around and started walking towards the door.

What did I do next? I couldn't let him do this alone. He'd get killed, and then I'd get killed by the gods for letting him walk out like that, and then just for the heck of it, my dad would probably resurrect me and then kill me for that. Or at least it was something like that-in my head at least.

I took a deep breath. "Wait for me!" I called, hoping that he wasn't wrapped up in his own thoughts again. "Give me ten to pack my things."

He turned around, expression suddenly shifting from slightly insane to pure bliss. "Really?" He asked happily.

"Erm, yeah. Don't leave without me!" I said, and rushed up the stairs, narrowly missing the puddle of milk, and praying to all the gods I knew that Carter would stay and not go mad about wasting time. Then, I noticed several initiates milling around the second floor, either chatting with one another or exchanging uneasy looks with me. Somehow, I just got really annoyed.

"What do you want?" I barked, bringing out my wand and pointing it and their direction.

The initiates glanced at one another and started bolting in different directions. They quickly went inside the nearest room, sweat dripping down their faces. Once the last one was inside, it slammed with a big _bang._

I just stood there in the empty room, staring at nothing. For the first time in months, I wanted to go back home England. Although the people sucked and it was way more boring than here, at least it was normal and I didn't have to worry about "saving the world" and "becoming a teacher at the age of twelve". I mean, weren't kids supposed to have child labor laws?

And then that's when I saw Anubis-for the first time in months.

I have no idea how he ended up here, but I somehow knew that he was there, right in front of me. Anubis was in his human floor, wearing a beat up leather jacket and matching combat boots. His brown eyes seemed to make me want to melt on the floor-not because of his hotness but because of the fury they contained.

"Hello Sadie," he said pleasantly, as if anger wasn't so evident in him. "Good to see you."

"Uh, hullo," I replied in an equal manner, hoping that this was all a figment of my imagination. "Same goes with me."

Anubis smiled, seeming more relaxed than ever. "Care to tell me why you're running off again?"

I swallowed a gulp. "It isn't what it looks like, I swear. Just a little side trip-"

"Are you mad?" Anubis burst out, his gold chain moving up. "The gods need you here more than ever!"

"What, we don't get day-off's once in a while?" I said lightly, trying to lift the tension in the air.

It didn't work. "And I thought you were more sensible than that." Anubis said.

That comment slightly angered me. "I am!" I shot back. If I didn't like him as much as I should, I would've Ha-Di'd him right there and there. And oh yeah, I forgot that he was a god.

"Then tell me," he said, "how are you going to explain this to Bast?"

Oh yeah, I forgot about that minor factor... "Um...erm...I...uh..." Hey, don't look at me that way! He was just so...argh!

That seemed to defuse some of the tension. Anubis chuckled, and even smiled slightly. "You forgot that, didn't you?"

"Yeah, it wasn't exactly part of my to-do list," I agreed.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it." Anubis said.

Wait, he just turned from full on furious to calm and collected? Now that was a surprise. "And why?" I asked, slightly wary of his offer.

"But only for a week."

"A week?" It was my turn to grin. "Now that's going to be easy."

"Hopefully." Then, Anubis pulled how two round objects from his hand. "Ball _shabtis_," he explained. "Go, pack. These two will be an accurate representation of both of you for a week, but then the moment that's over; the _shabtis_ will go back to their original forms, no matter what happens."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked again.

"Because..." Anubis hesitated. "I saw what happened earlier."

"The turnips and milk?" I said hotly, blood rushing up my face. "For your information, that was NOT my fault! It was-"

"Um...Sadie?" Walt's echoed down the hall, sounding confused. "Why are you talking to the wall?"

"I am not talking to the wall!" I yelled, totally forgetting me trying to keep out of the temper zone with him. "I'm just talking with my imaginary dead friend over there!"

While Anubis had a bemused expression on his face, Walt's was total bewilderment. "Uh...okay. See you later I guess..." With those words, I heard loud footsteps which sounded like running, and then a slam of a door.

Ouch. Not.

Anubis looked at me. "The Mist," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Right," I said sarcastically. "Okay, scratch what I said earlier."

"It's okay Sadie," he said reassuringly. "He'll get back to normal in no time. It's just some way to get off his worry about Zia. Just promise you'll try to get him out of his obsession. Things could turn out grave if he continues to squander away his time."

"How do you know these stuff?"

He looked at me straight in the eye and gave me a weary smile. "I just know."

I forgot. He's five thousand years old_. He's too old for you Sadie, get over yourself!_ "Oh yeah. Um, thanks for the help I guess," I mumbled, feeling slightly awkward.

"It's nothing. Now get to your room before Carter gets ballistic and leaves without you." Anubis chuckled, black sparks coming off the balls.

Without saying a word, I rushed to my room, getting ready to go on a hare brained quest for my deranged brother and with the help of the god of the dead. Great, wonderful. Hopefully, the airport had tea in flight...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Leo **

In a certain in Bunker Eight, Leo was half awake, staring at the still darkness, and lying down on his bed. Dawn was beginning to curl up the horizon, and the misty clouds covered the camp. A great day for sailing, or surfing for that matter. But it was just too early.

He sighed, and then for the umpteenth time, looked under his pillow for something. His hand emerged out with a slightly crumpled drawing, thanks to countless of people grabbing it to compare it to the blueprints that had made the Argo II a reality. Leo couldn't believe it himself that the stupid crayon drawing that he had made as a kid was becoming true. That was at least one thing that was his claim to fame. He took one last look at the drawing, and then stuffed the drawing inside a black backpack.

The Argo II had taken awhile to complete, two months and a week. It wasn't exactly simple to create an enormous ship that could withstand at least a few big storms and a few fights from some sea monsters, much to Jason's dismay. Plus, the gods seemed to be preventing them from going to the Roman camp-it was either too cold or hot, although Leo could tolerate the heat, the cold could go to extreme limits, and it reminded him of the ice princess, Khione. He couldn't help wondering if she had a spy in camp, causing all the damage. The thought escape from his mind just as soon as it came. He wasn't exactly going to welcome her with open arms, and he knew it was the same with her the next time they met. Next time they crossed paths, Khione was out to kill Leo.

Bored out of his mind, Leo stood up as quietly as possible, trying to awaken his other bunkmates. The backpack hung loosely from his shoulders, and he took small and slow steps, wincing slightly as the door creaked as he opened it. A cool breeze came in, not too hot nor cold. He shut the door silently, and then looked out to the camp.

It looked actually somewhat peaceful, with only a few campers hanging around the place, and the nymphs that made a small crowd in their respective places. Although Leo thought the nymphs looked cute, he didn't want to make a move on them, seeing what they did to a certain satyr a few weeks ago.

He scanned the area for Piper and Jason. Jason, he guessed, was probably in the training centre, or still sleeping. Piper was usually with him, but Leo doubted she was awake at four in the morning. The pretty Aphrodite girl valued her sleep too much.

Piper and Jason had been spending a lot of time together lately. Not that Leo was jealous or anything. Sure, he was okay with the two of his friends happy and enjoying each other, but he couldn't exactly hang out with them when it was obvious that they wanted to spend time together. Sometimes, Leo felt slightly left out. Okay, maybe he was slightly jealous. Only slightly. And he hadn't had a good relationship ever since the _venti_ had attacked the three.

_Well, it was obvious they were going to end up together, it was clear even if it was clouded by the Mist, _a voice said snidely in his head. _It was only a matter of time. What, you thought things were always going to be perfect with the three of you, happily contented and-_

_Shut up,_ Leo thought angrily, mentally trying to shut up the voice-even if it was true. He didn't need to be reminded of the things that he knew already.

_That's like trying to turn off the truth, isn't it?_

Leo resisted the urge to attack his head. It wasn't exactly going to help his situation if someone saw him attacking himself in the middle of nowhere. And plus, that would shut down any chance of him getting a girlfriend. Instead, he thoughtwearily, _I know._

He decided to head towards the training centre, otherwise known as the "We-Kill-Dummies Centre". Even if Jason wasn't there, he could use the chance to brush up his skills. As Leo started to go towards the place, a voice made him stop cold.

"Leo!" Annabeth's voice reached closer to him, panting slightly.

He turned around, facing the grey-eyed girl, resisting the urge to heave a groan. "Wassup dude?" Not that Annabeth was another threat of evil that needed a dose of Leo's hammer. It's just that she was so…obsessive over everything. Annoying even. She had been practically breathing through the Hephaestus's kids necks every single time, and criticizing every single little flaw, worrying over the smallest details, and even making Nyssa rant about her one night, on the day when Annabeth had yelled at her for forgetting to chop down some oak wood. Sure, the Athena kids were good at these stuff. Sure, she was just concerned about her boyfriend Percy. But still, she made Leo cringe inwardly each time she passed by his way, worried that she'd make another comment about something.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Where are Jason and Piper?"

"Somewhere?" Leo said meekly, cringing _again _under her grey eyes. This girl could freak the freak out of him if she could.

"'Somewhere?'" Annabeth mocked Leo, making air quotes. "'Somewhere?'" She repeated, practically stretching the words out in the air.

"How should I know?" Leo shrugged his shoulders, trying to keep his cool.

She looked at him as if he had suggested that he was her father. "You guys are always together!"

Always? Now that wanted to make Leo laugh bitterly. "Um dude, not always. Maybe about forty percent of the time, but not always," he pointed out.

"Whatever," Annabeth said, tapping her foot impatiently. "Could you please get them now? I need to know if they know what they're doing."

Great. Now he was a pack mule. "Fine," Leo replied smoothly. He began to walk away towards the training centre when Annabeth stopped him once more.

"Leo?" She said, hesitating slightly. "I guess I have to say something this time."

"What?"

"I'm sorry for acting like a bitch."

Incredulously, he turned around. When he meant to say thanks or something polite, what came out of his mouth was, "Only _now?"_ Leo mentally facepalmed himself at the sound of those words.

"Yeah. I guess I was just…worried. About Percy and Gaia," Annabeth said slowly. "And I just got caught up on everything, and…" She finished lamely, the words flying in the air.

"Hey, it's no prob," Leo said casually. "Sure, you sent us on the edge, drove about half of our cabin insane, reduced several into a mental breakdown, destroyed an entire toolbox when you tried to throw it Harvey, and dented Apollo's face in the edge when we carved it into the ship. Yup, everything's going to be alright."

The corner of her mouth twitched up slightly. "Wow. I really did that?"

"Yeah, you're a real charmer," Leo answered sarcastically.

Annabeth grinned. "Well then," she continued, confidence regaining her voice, "will you please call Jason and Piper now? I really need to talk some stuff out with three of you, unless you don't want to-"

"I said I'd do it," Leo cut in. "So I will."

"Thanks Valdez," Annabeth said quietly. From that angle, she looked like she was going to fall apart any moment. Her blonde hair hung limp from her ponytail, and her eyes drooped and there were some slight tinges of red in them. Had she been crying all this time?

"No problem." Leo flashed a quick smile, and then started to walk towards the arena. He thought about Annabeth's expression back then. He had a slight suspicion that it was mostly about Percy. I mean, what was the point of crying over the Earth? As he got closer to the arena, Leo decided he was done with life. Finto, nada, nothing. It was pretty useless in his opinion. Sure, it made you happy for a second or so. But then what you do when it was gone?

_I'm pretty becoming like my dad,_ Leo thought cynically. _Both of us hate Aphrodite: love. It uses us, and then makes us feel like we're worthless when the chick dumps us for another dude. You know what they say: like father, like son. Wait, why am I being so low lately? I'm supposed to be the happy, calm and weird dude. But thanks to _love_, I'm nothing._

_Nothing,_ the trees seemed to echo, as the leaves swayed in the wind. _Nothing at all._

Leo felt enraged. Filled with the jealousy and resentment he'd felt over the past few months, he grabbed a smooth stone from the ground, and with all his strength, flung it at the tree. "Shut up!" He yelled, cracking slightly. "I said shut up!"

And like that they did-but not in the way Leo expected.

Suddenly, a _crack_ echoed from the ground. Quickly, Leo looked down at the ground. A huge line had pierced the soil…and it was growing.

"No way…" Leo mouthed.

"Earthquake!" That single word seemed to break the spell, uttered by a terrified looking Hypnos kid. "Gaia!"

It happened all so fast.

Annabeth shouting, "Run Leo! Get Jason, I'll get Piper, we need to leave now! Lead them to the ship!"

Him somehow frozen there. How the earth seemed to paralyze him, and how Leo wanted to stay there forever…until something roughly jabbed his back.

"Leo!" Clarisse yelled in his ear, her voice making him flinch. "Get Jason NOW!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Leo snapped. "I was getting to that!" And that's when he took a full grasp of the situation.

The campers were running around and screaming, heading towards random directions. Others were somehow like Leo's situation earlier, staring at the ground with blank eyes, as if there was something interesting there. Obviously they didn't have an earthquake here at Camp Half Blood. Clarisse had already moved on to the next person in the trance, using the same method that she used to awaken Leo. He knew this was bad. With all the speed he could muster, he ran towards the training centre.

As he passed by each person, chaos was evident everywhere. There were some campers, shooting at the ground, and one even tried to stick his sword through the ground. A giant crack was formed, and all thanks to gravity, the camper was pulled into the blackness.

Horrified, Leo didn't noticed until a few seconds later that Jason was right in front of him. He blinked, and noticed that Jason was trying to speak with him.

"…we need to go, right?" Jason seemed to say, his voice drowning down in the screams of the campers.

That made him snap out of his head. "Of course amigo," Leo said quickly. "There's a freaking giant earthquake, and you're asking _that?"_

"Yeah, I apparently have a weird view on emergencies," Jason replied, eyeing the giant cracks edgily. "We better run fast."

* * *

><p><strong>Do you guys see the review button down bellow? Yup, please comment! Don't want to be preforming for no audience...or something equally poetic XD Feel free to say what you need to say, no flaming though.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**Piper McLean**

Piper didn't know her last day in camp was going to be…well, memorable was a way to put it. Maybe full on chaos with a dash of madness? Yeah, she agreed with the latter term more.

She was in the Aphrodite cabin sleeping contentedly, knowing that she would have to wake up in a few minutes.

_No way,_ Piper thought drowsily. _I…do not…want to wake up. Yes, ten more minutes…or maybe an hour?_

When she was about to settle for an hour, a scream split throughout the camp. "Earthquake!" A girl's voice shrieked, echoing loudly. "Gaia!"

That name brought Piper to her senses. She jolted upwards, her head narrowly hitting the ceiling. Gaia. Now that was a name to be woken up at. Was she here? And then she realized that the girl had said something else:

Earthquake.

Fear rose up her spine. This wasn't supposed to happen in camp. There were supposed to be shields and other guards protecting the camp, how could an earthquake reach the tightly guarded wards? That was a question to ponder on, but right now she had to concentrate on the new task ahead: getting the Aphrodite campers away from harm.

Just when she was about to issue a scream to get the others out, some of the people started waking up.

"What…?" Drew began slowly, yawning and stretching her arms; her usual flawless and sleek hair tangled and messed up, a thing that always happened when she slept. "What the heck is going on?"

Then the cabin started moving from side-to-side rapidly, and the stacks of magazines and makeup that covered the shelves fell to the ground, bottles shattering at the moment of impact and the magazines hitting random people. Terrified yelps filled the air, and one was shouting something about exploding burritos-whatever that meant. Piper remained in her shell-shocked self, trying to get down slip down the bunk bed but with no avail-the ladder had somehow slipped off the hinges and smashed a poster of Justin Beiber, while the floor was scattered with shards of glass of beauty products, the contents of the nail polish staining the floor and the expensive bed sheets.

"Run!" Someone shouted, Piper couldn't identify who. Yuki maybe? She was about to follow her voice and run for her life, but then she remembered something: the earthquake drills they always held in the schools she got kicked out of. Running was bad, according to the teachers at least. Apparently it caused chaos, and Piper had a feeling that chaos wasn't exactly the thing they needed right now.

She cleared her throat. "Guys-" She began slowly.

No one paid any attention to her. All the Aphrodite kids were quickly stuffing various items in their Gucci and Prada backpacks. About half of them were just standing there and screaming, and Piper's eardrums felt like they were going to burst any moment at the noise.

A faint idea echoed in her mind. Maybe she could somehow get them to the woods, or somewhere away from camp? Could it work? Possibly, but the odds were going to be very low. Emphasis on the low.

"Everyone," she shouted, putting her backpack over her shoulder and preparing to jump off her bed. "Listen-"

But her plan was smashed into pieces. People were rushing out the door, only contented on getting out of there and saving their various designer items. They were shoving one another to get to the exit first, completely ignoring her. One or two people looked up to her with mixtures of guilt and fear, and rushed out the door, leaving it open.

Then the cabin shook violently again, making Piper edge unwillingly towards the edge of the bed. Madly trying to regain her balance, she quickly gripped the wooden bars of her bed, but with no luck. Then with her arms desperately flinging in the air, Piper McLean found herself in freefall-

And hitting her head in the ground. All for that very second, she could only feel was the splitting pain ringing all over her body thanks to the shards of glass, and her ears were vibrating at the noises echoing from the ground. She couldn't move, and she registered dimly that something wet was staining the back of her white shirt,

Wait, did that mean-

A small crack appeared beside Piper, moving in a vertical line. She could only lie there, blood, or she assumed the liquid was, beginning to seep out of a small opening somewhere near the upper part of her neck. As much as she wanted to get up and flee to shelter, she had no strength to stand up, let alone make another step.

_So this is how I'm going to die,_ Piper thought feebly. _I'd always thought that it would be beside Jason. Or fighting in battle. Or beside a bunch of flowers or something equally cheesy. Now I'm dying…lying down on the floor during an earthquake. Yeah, that's just so heroic._

She couldn't help herself. A bubble of laughter escaped from her lips. Although she knew she was probably laughing in the face of Hades, but somehow Piper didn't care anymore.

_I'm going to die, and it feels great!_

"Piper?" A voice entered the room, and she could hear the figure stumble as she tripped over something. She couldn't really crane her neck to see anything, not in this position. "Piper, are you there?"

It sounded like Annabeth. Maybe she wasn't going to die after all. "Yeah?" Piper managed, but her voice was drowned by another scream from the outside.

Annabeth cursed in Greek, saying something that Piper couldn't quite hear. Then she could see a glimpse of Annabeth, who was clutching the door for balance. She glanced back at Piper. "Can you stand up?"

Hm, was she okay? Before she could respond, Piper felt herself being thrown here and there thanks to another tremor, her head hitting random items-but thankfully her head didn't suffer that many damage. Although each time the quakes forced her to move, the wound by her back opened further, a small pool of blood already next to her.

"No," she said loudly, with as much voice as her strength held.

"Perfect," Annabeth groaned, footsteps padded closer to Piper in quick movements. "Just great. Look, can you crawl?"

Piper thought for a moment. "I don't think so," she said. "There's lots of glass here and stuff. I'm not even sure if I could move my own head." _Let alone have the energy to stand up, _she thought, the unspoken words seemed to be heard by Annabeth.

"You're injured?"

"Pretty much."

"Where?"

"Somewhere near my head. Back too, and I feel like dying."

Another curse that Piper couldn't identify escaped from Annabeth's lips. For a while, there was a moment of silence, and she could see that Annabeth was putting her hands on her temples, probably devising a plan. "Okay," she hollered, trying to keep her voice above the din. "I'll pull you up. Hold on for a few seconds,"

She tried to nod, but somehow she didn't have the energy to. Hold on? At least it wasn't as hard as the quest last time.

Piper tried to erase all thoughts of giving up and held on to the fact of surviving. _Don't imagine your funeral! _She thought angrily. _Do not envision Leo setting your grave on fire, and Coach Gleeson fighting the first random person he sees! _Although Piper had to admit, it was a pretty chaotic and a weird thought at the same time.

"Done!" Piper had lost all sense to time, but it seemed like a few seconds in which Annabeth had done…whatever it was. "Piper! Try to look up!"

She obeyed her words, and obediently turned to the direction of the voice. Annabeth was perched up Anita's bed, holding something that looked like cloth twisted together to create some kind of rope. Piper hoped that she hadn't used the designer shirts; the wrath of the Aphrodite cabin could be astonishing once they were fired up about something.

"Grab it, and try to pull yourself up," Annabeth explained, shaking the rope for some emphasis. "Hurry, I don't exactly know when the next shake will be."

A dim sense of recognition sparked in Piper's mind. Piper extended her arms to reach for the rope, but her arms had the strength of a feather: light and useless. Just as her fingers grasped the cool cotton, she couldn't heave herself up, no matter how much effort she tried.

"Harder!" Annabeth ordered, a sense of urgency in her voice. "Come on, there's been worse times like these…I guess."

She was right, but then Piper had only very minor injuries back then. Her blood loss was quickly draining, and she didn't know how much she could hold on. And then Jason's face popped into her head.

Piper didn't know how, but somehow that image gave her some strength. With a burst of energy unlike none she had ever experienced, she forced herself to clench the fabric. Then, she moved up, although her vision was slightly wavering, Piper was sitting in an upright position in the air.

Just when she was about to sink back into the sea of glass, Annabeth grabbed her hand. "Not too shabby," she commented.

Then Annabeth pulled Piper up, and Piper landed into the bed headfirst, still slightly dizzy. She couldn't believe that she had done it…

But right now she wanted to go to sleep. Just when she was about to sink into the pillows, Annabeth's voice disturbed her dream. "Come on Piper," she said irritably. "Let's go to the Argo!"

"Why not later on?" Piper moaned, exhausted yet trying to make a small joke. "I'm sleepy!"

"Because if not you'll die? Don't make me use my bucket of water!" Annabeth shot back, obviously frustrated with her.

That got Piper awake. She opened her eyes instantly. "Okay, let's get out of here," she agreed, struggling to stand up, wobbling slightly. Noticing a pair of slipper near the bed opposite of her, she picked them up and put them on her feet. Something to shelter her from the glass was better than none.

Annabeth winced as she noticed the huge gash on Piper's neck. "I'll fix that later. Right now we need to concentrate on getting out of here, alive," she said, standing up and opening the door. "You go first."

Piper nodded, and went outside the open door. And there she saw a scene of chaos.

The campers were running around in circles, and the haunted screams filled the air. The tall pines that were usually tall and firm were uprooted and on the ground, forming some sort of maze. Even the pavilion had been shattered into pieces, the tiles scattered around.

"You see what I mean?" Annabeth said dryly, pulling out her dagger. "You better bring out yours too, you never know-"

Her words were stopped when a giant wind blew from the sides, nearly knocking Piper off her feet. The winds howled and moaned, and a good amount of feet away from her swirled a big vortex of air. The funny thing was, the wind seemed to be getting all the energy it needed from the east…

"Eurus," Annabeth cursed. "The unlucky east wind." She groaned. "Weapons are useless now."

"And the Argo," Piper said, echoing her bitter tone, "we won't be able to set sail."

"Didn't the Hephaestus kids build an engine?" Annabeth asked in confusion.

Piper shook her head. "Nope, Leo said that the engine would be too big for the space needed for the Roman campers, so they just decided to leave it out of the plans."

As the east wind blew, Annabeth was looking really steamed. No, pissed was the more appropriate term. "Gods," she began slowly, "What is up with all of you?"

Before Piper could suggest something, the wind howled angrily once more-and started to quickly spin towards the direction of the Artemis cabin. The cabin refused to give in to the demands of the wind, but then the sheer force seemed to be too strong for it to handle. The cabin began to get sucked into the wind, and the planks swirled around the air, the enigma of the moon sparkling dimly in the cyclone.

"No…" Annabeth said breathlessly, as if not believing what she saw.

"We should-"

"Annabeth! Piper!" Then, she could make out a figure in the distance. It was Chiron she realized, his bow slung over his waist, expression worried. "Get there-"he pointed to the woods, "-now!"

Without any more choices or plans, the two girls looked at each other and nodded. They quickly followed the figure of the centaur, running as quickly as possible to avoid the rubble and the cracks that threatened to suck them into…whatever horror lay down there. As Piper looked back to see what was happening, her mouth formed into a perfect O.

The former Aphrodite cabin, one magnificent with some beautiful glamour, was getting swept away too by the wind. Just like the Artemis cabin, the same thing happened, except it was harder for Piper to handle. Sure, she cared for Artemis, but there was something sad about your room crashing down. The only good thing that came out of it that the posters of her father would be torn down-only if somebody didn't bring one along with them. It also seemed like the Hermes cabin was gone too. Turning her head back to avoid seeing anything else, Piper hurried her pace, only several steps away from Annabeth. The blonde haired girl seemed determined; nothing would stop her now from reaching Percy.

After a good distance away from camp and a few inches close to the forest, the two stopped to take a breath. Piper gulped in the fresh dose of air, while Annabeth walked a few steps closer to an oak tree. The forest seemed like the only normal part that day, there was nothing unusual or different about that place. It was comforting, different from the chaos that she had experienced earlier on.

"I suggest you leave now." Suddenly Chiron appeared near a juniper bush, looking calm and on his guard at the same time, hands fingering his arrows. "You'll never reach the deadline if you keep up at this rate." He advised.

"Chiron," Annabeth said, "how could we possibly reach the deadline if there's an east wind?"

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Didn't they-"

"They made space for the Romans kids, so there was no more space for the engine," Piper interjected.

"Ah," was all Chiron could say. "That's a…rather unfortunate inconvenience."

"You've got that right," Piper couldn't help saying.

"Stupid Valdez," Annabeth grunted.

The centaur sighed. "Well, I'm afraid I cannot interfere. I am forbidden to help tamper with the works of the Three Fates, but _I can_ however give a helpful hint."

"What is it?" Annabeth asked eagerly.

As he was about to reply, a loud sound that sounded like a giant burst of air _whooshed _into the woods. Out of nowhere, a group of nymphs burst out from behind a tree, running past Piper and disappearing into the wilderness beyond.

"Now you must go away. Now," Chiron said hastily. "I fear that there will be worse dangers coming in a few minutes. Jason and Leo are already by the beach, and there has been already enough time wasted, so this is all I can tell you: stop by Miami if you wish. There will be someone who has some useful information, tell her an old friend has come to get his part of the bargain back. And don't trust-" He was stopped when he burst into a fit of giggles. "Someone's here! Go, before it-" That was interrupted too when Chiron started laughing again, seeming to almost double back on the ground in his happiness.

"Chiron?" Piper looked at him in curiosity, wondering what was going on. "What's there?"

Annabeth stared into the darkness of the forest, squinting. Her eyes widened. "This is bad. Two gods on her side? She's getting stronger by the minute." Her grey eyes flickered from Chiron to Piper, resting on the shadows. Annabeth grabbed Piper's wrists. "We have to run," she said urgently.

"I realized that the first ten times people told me that," Piper said. "Are we going to bring Chiron?"

"No…" Chiron choked out, still in his fit of laughter. "Go…!"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn't say anything else. Without taking a glance back, she gave an abrupt nod, and hurried towards the left. Piper hesitated, not so sure if she should leave the centaur behind. But there was no time left. Heart beating with a pang of guilt, her feet kicked up a small storm of the dust of the earth, and started into a brisk jog, following the blonde light of Annabeth's hair.

The path that the Athena daughter was running seemed to be a shortcut that led from the forest to the beach, if her memory wasn't faulty. Struggling to keep up with her speed, Piper put some pressure on the wound by her head. Giving a quick rundown on the condition of her body, her clothes with soaked with blood, but her head seemed like the worst injury. There was only a long gash from the end of her neck to the middle of her back, and several bruises in various locations. The wound by her head was a big bruise near her right ear, but there was a small opening that leaked out scarlet blood, or something like that as Piper slowly touched the injury while running, wincing as pain emanated through her mind as she did. She would be okay she guessed, but she if the events kept on like this, she would be forced to give up, her vision was already starting to blur slightly.

"I think we lost them," Annabeth said quietly.

Keeping up her speed, Piper gave a look back, expecting something to leap after them. Nothing came, although seconds later, a wind swept towards the east, and a shrill giggle pierced the sky. It sounded almost eerie, and the sound of swords clattering added to the effect.

Shuddering slightly, she looked ahead, making out a sight of the brown sand. So they were almost there? That was fast. Piper felt slightly relieved that they were almost there. Annabeth was already by the sand, waiting for her and impatiently tapping her foot. "Where were you?" She asked, shaking her head. "Don't you understand what 'rush' means?"

"I'm so sorry," Piper answered sarcastically. "How about we just hurry up?"

"Exactly my thoughts." Annabeth didn't bother facing Piper. She just ran towards the Argo, in pursuit of the boat.

Piper, feeling slightly annoyed at Annabeth's behavior, followed after her, gaining speed and leaving the ruins of a place that she and a few others thought as 'home'.

She could see two figures on the giant ship, Jason and Leo? Hope started beating a small rhythm in her head. It was possible. Piper hoped that they weren't injured or anything. For a moment it seemed like everything was going to be alright, until the almost familiar sound of the wind rushed through the east once more, causing the Argo to make a sudden turn to the right. Piper grimaced as she noticed one of the figures knocked off by the sudden wind, nearly toppling off the ship, but the other figure carried its fellowman up.

"We don't have much time," she heard Annabeth mutter. "No, no no-"

"Come on," Piper said. "We just need a way to stop the wind and to get on the ship. How hard can that be?"

"Jason!" Annabeth's eyes lit up like a light bulb.

"What?" Piper asked. Then she got what she was talking about. "Oh…"

"Yes," Annabeth looked straight ahead at the ship, cupping her hands over her mouth. "Jason!" She shouted, her voice echoing throughout the beach. "Ask your dad for a blessing! "

She wasn't so sure if he'd be able to hear it over the sound of the rushing wind, but Piper knew that was the only sign of luck they had. Without it, they'd miss the deadline, and Gaia would win. The gods would be destroyed, and the world would plunge into misery.

Surprisingly, Jason gave a thumb up, as if he had heard it. He seemed to close his eyes, but it was hard to tell. Leo was at the wheel of the ship, trying to keep it from going from the east. He was obviously struggling, but with Leo being Leo, she knew he'd be alright. Now there was only one thing left to concentrate on…

"Annabeth," she asked, hoping that the girl wouldn't ignore her or get mad again, "who was the other god you were talking about?"

"Goddess, not god," Annabeth corrected. At least she didn't seem angry or cold. "Eutychia. Goddess of happiness."

That statement felt…wrong. "Goddess of Happiness?" Piper frowned. "That seems…unlikely."

"You saw what she did to Chiron. Just imagine what she can do to others."

"Right…" Remembering Chiron's giggles and laughter, Piper felt slightly sorry that they had left the centaur all by himself.

Annabeth's face darkened. "Gods, what's taking them so long?"

Just as she said those words, suddenly, the wind stopped. She could see Jason's shoulders slump in relief. Then, Leo waved his arms, as if telling them to come to the ship. He turned the wheels, causing the ship to move towards the shore.

All the nausea that Piper had gained suddenly disappeared. So they were going to be okay…she guessed. But the other campers were not, she thought, remembering the damage she had seen to the other cabins. Sighing, she hurried towards the shore, just in case another danger would show up. Annabeth was beside her, anger slightly subdued.

"High ho!" yelled Leo as they climbed up the ship. "Why'd you take so long?"

"Why did _you_ take so long?" Annabeth countered, crossing her arms as she stepped into the wooden planks. "We could've died down there if it weren't for Zeus!"

"Haha, I asked the question first-you have to answer it!" Leo said teasingly.

Piper stifled a snicker.

Jason didn't say anything. He looked at Piper, eyes filled with relief. "Glad to see you're alright," he murmured.

Piper tried not to blush. "Um…same goes with me…" she said softly.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Annabeth brought out her dagger, pointing it at Leo. "If you don't get us out of here in one minute, I will chop you with this dagger, make sure you're in exactly three hundred pieces, and feed your flesh to Gaia."

"And you said you apologized…?" Leo said, sarcasm evident.

"Whatever. Just get us out of here!"

"Gods, what is up with her?" Jason asked Leo.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Probably knocked her head too hard on a pavilion."

"LEO VALDEZ!" Annabeth shrieked.

Piper facepalmed, secretly grinning. If they weren't going to run for their lives, it would actually be funny.

"Okay, okay!" As if nervous to anger her any further, Leo edged towards the wheel. He looked up to the sails. "Jason, could you raise the sail by the left?" he said with confidence. When it came to transportation or anything similar to machinery, he was your man.

Jason nodded and did so. And leaving behind the rubble and horrors, the ship set sail, its white sails proudly flowing in the wind.

**Sorry for the late update! I was supposed to post this before I went on vacation, but I couldn't because we had to leave early. Anyways, going to post a new one as soon as possible, hope you enjoy it! Now here's for the comments:**

**Iamtotallyluvinmylife: Thanks for pointing it out, sorry for that! Someone borrowed all my Rick Riordan books at that time, and I thought I knew that answers…XD, and I just bought the Throne of Fire.**

**The Queen of Valencia Torgue: That's why it's rated T. I was supposed to, but there was no space left XD**

**lenalee witch, CheyRainAwesomness: Thanks you!**

**Now, writing the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Carter Kane**

Objective? Find Zia. Other objective? Stop my sister from rolling her eyes at me every time she happened to glance in my direction. I mean, it wasn't like I was insane or anything…

Right?

Anyways, let's get back to the situation at hand. I was squashed between Sadie, who was spilled Coke on my pants an accident' (lies) and some old man who smelled like he hadn't taken a shower in ages. So you could say I was not happy. With wet pants. In an airplane. To Miami. Landing in two hours. To find Zia. This was just getting better and better!

I closed my eyes and tried to keep still. I have no idea if it was because of my anticipation or something similar, but I felt like there was something weird about this plane. Something…out of the plan. The only problem? Figuring out what it was.

I gave a quick look at Sadie. She was asleep already, her mouth wide open and saliva dripping on one side of her mouth. For that moment, she actually seemed semi normal. Looking like an innocent [Ow Sadie, don't hit me with _that_!] twelve year old, not some magician who had the tendency to blow up things with a two syllable word and power. I have no idea why, but somehow that image warmed my heart.

Careful not to awake her, I craned my neck to look at the passengers behind. We were in the front row, economy, since we got there three hours early and we had not much money to afford first class or business. Nothing out of the blue. The people looked normal, ranging from babies to old people and from females to male. Some wore designer styles, while one or two looked like their clothes were fetched out of the Dumpster. But still, I couldn't shake the feeling off that there was something strange about this flight…

My eyes rested on the row on the left aisle, a few lengths away from us. In that row was a bunch of people who probably didn't know each other. There was an old lady wearing a frilly pink dress, and she held a cane with a flamingo at the tip, making sure it was poised firmly in front of her. A middle aged woman who looked normal enough, with shoulder length blonde hair and hazel eyes, reading a Harry Potter book. Lastly there was a boy, somewhere along Sadie's age with dark hair and brooding looks. He wore black combat boots which were strangely similar to my sister's, and a battered leather jacket hung from his seat. I could see a few cards inside the pocket, although for which use, I had no idea.

I frowned. Whatever it was, there was something weird about those three people. Or at least one of them. But who could it be?

Well, one thing was certain-I wasn't going to get anywhere by going over to them and demanding which one of them was the weird one. Although that sounded like an appeasing thought, I wasn't going to get any answers. Instead I decided to play it the old school style: waiting to see if any of them did anything remotely suspicious.

Pretending that I wasn't looking at the three anymore, I sat back in my seat, ignoring the looks that the man next to me was giving. Maybe I should just quit this. The three seemed normal at least. Why concentrate on them when I could be finding some leads on Zia Rashid?

Whenever I thought of her name, I felt like my brains got frozen. Zia was-well technically, it wasn't her. Around six months ago, Sadie and I had met her, and after a chain of events, had helped us defeat Set, who wasn't even the bad guy in the first place. At the moment of her death, she had admitted that she wasn't the real Zia and she was just a shabti, while the real Zia was hiding somewhere, hosting the river goddess Nephthys. Not only was she essential to defeating Apophis, well…you could say I liked her.

So that's why I would do anything to save her.

And then I didn't realize until two seconds later that I had fallen asleep, and now my _ba _was floating somewhere in the Duat-again.

I was somewhere in a forest. Not the kind of forest that it was all birds happily chirping and nature was abundant, or anything like the Disney movies. It might've been like that before, but now it was all dark and gloomy. The earth looked rotten and dead and dark clouds covered the sky. About half of the trees were uprooted or were somehow petrified. Call me crazy or anything, but it some of the trees, it looked like there were faces of people in them, a shocked and terrified expression on their faces.

Curious, I walked-actually, it was more of hovering. My feet were two inches off the ground-straight ahead, wondering why I was sent here. For some reason my instincts didn't want me to be here, it was like I wasn't supposed to be here. But then why was I here?

"I will never tell you."

I flinched, not expecting that there would be somebody in this dreary underground. I looked back, expecting someone to say "BOO!". But there was nobody else, so I gave myself a mental facepalm for reacting like a wimp. Then I realized that the voices were further away.

"So you choose to protect that foolish little camp of yours?" said a female. Her voice sounded melodious and harmonic, yet at the same time with a hint of fury.

"Yes," the same voice said. "Gaia shall never be allowed to rise!"

"Can we just kill him?" Another voice whined. "You said I could kill him if he doesn't want to help us!"

"Quiet!" barked the female. "We're not giving up yet!"

"You might as well do it now." As the man spoke, I crept closer to the sound of the voice, trying not to betray any sounds by moving slowly. "The information on where the campers are will be never told by me."

"Oh really?" the female asked slyly. "Not even if their lives were on stake?"

"Their lives are still going to be on stake even if I tell you where they are," the man pointed out.

I was already closer to the voices. Cautiously, I slid near the shadows and looked at the people. Standing up was a woman with tanned skin and with hazel eyes and hair. Next to her was a bored looking man with a white tuxedo on, a blue tie pinned lopsidedly at the edge. I couldn't really tell who was on the ground, but the figure had…horse hooves for feet? The first image that popped into my head was of the centaurs. Sometimes, when I was still with Dad and he was somewhere else, I'd read some other books about other mythologies because for some reason he didn't approve of Greek, Roman and Norse. It was probably because he was working for Egyptian mythology, and trying to please him, I'd stayed away from it as much as possible. Every now and then, I'd picked up a few glimpses of information though.

A malicious laugh escaped from the female's lips. "Yes. True, but on the other hand, me and the other allies will enjoy hearing them scream." She stepped closer to the figure on the ground. "After all, being the bringer of happiness, I can give as well I can take. And I will be taking as much as possible."

"You'll never succeed," the man said calmly. "The world will not tolerate evils like you treading the earth."

"But the earth has already approved of us," the woman said smugly. "Not only will I make sure that your little campers will not reach the solstice in time, I will bring you into the deepest pits of Tartarus. Not only will I stop there, I will watch the pit, hearing you scream for mercy."

"Kill him now?" The other man asked.

Her eyes flickered from the figure to her companion. As she swept her gaze smoothly around the clearing, I couldn't help flinching. That slight movement betrayed myself.

The woman's eyes stopped abruptly. Then, she quickly repositioned her eyes near the place I was in. I tried not to move, but this time it wasn't helping me anymore. She knew that someone was there. All she had to do was to…

"Oh. Another of them," the woman said dismissively. "Eurus, you are free to kill him."

The man, who I assumed was Eurus, grinned toothily. "Yay! More people to kill!"

Before I could make a move to get out, a wind coming from the east knocked me to the ground. I fell over, staining my shirt with soil. Even without no light, I could make out in the darkness the eyes of the fallen figure meet mine. They were filled with urgency and something else that I couldn't identify…

Suddenly, something tackled me. My eyes widened in surprise, and I struggled to get the weight out by moving from right to left haphazardly. Nothing happened. And then that's when things got to the weird part.

Fumbling slightly, I tried to visualize my wand-heck, at this time, even a stick would help me somehow at this point. For reasons unknown my mind was blocked, and I couldn't get anything to defend myself, let alone escape by waking up from here.

Eurus leaned closer to me. As he opened his mouth to talk, I could smell a foul stench of coleslaw or something like garbage. "Die puny ba!" He said cheerfully, bringing out a dagger from his pocket. "Don't let the monsters kill you! Oh no wait, that's right-I kill you first!"

This guy was obviously mad. And heavy. I didn't think I had the strength to do anything. Not only would I never see Zia again. Horus would be really angry at me for dying, and so would Sadie-

Sadie. That was it! Although it was a weak and flawed plan, it was the only one I had. Slowly, I unclenched my fists together, positioning my fingers like a gun pointing to the ground. "Ha-di!" I yelled, hoping that the spell wouldn't end up destroying me.

Suddenly, a flash of red escaped from my fingertips. The trail of sparks swept in the air, and like a dagger **(A/N: Or an air assassination from AC: B XD)** it stabbed Eurus in the back.

His eyes budged in surprise. "Not…funny..." The guy groaned, and rolled over, falling to the grass. A surge of relief flew through me as the heavy weight was gone.

As I caught I glimpse of his back, surprisingly there was nothing wrong with it. The shirt did seem slightly singed though, and the color blue seemed slightly black. I groaned. This was going to be hard. Summoning enough energy, I closed my eyes, and tried to get my _khopesh_.

"Enough!"

Surprised, I craned my neck to see what was behind me. And there was Horus, dressed in his battle armor and a bright fury glowing in his eyes. And when I mean glowing, I mean glowing-they were glowing a dark shade of gold.

The woman chuckled. "Hello Horus. We meet again."

Horus gave her a weird look. "Who are you?" He asked slowly. "I don't know you…

"The Treaty of Four. Remember? I was the one on the right of Ate. The one in the red dress…" the woman scowled. "See! This always happens when you're a minor goddess! No one respects you, especially if you're a girl!"

"Well, it doesn't look like you're exactly respecting my ally," Horus murmured. "You're letting him die against a god with mental problems."

"He was invading our territory," the woman protested. "We have every right to do whatever we want with him-"

His eyes flashed a deeper gold, spinning with flecks of amber. "Eutychia," Horus said calmly, words melting with imaginary shards of ice. "Let go of him. Now."

The world seemed to hold still for a moment. Even the shrouded figure across me seemed to examine Horus. Finally Eutychia sighed.

"Go."

I looked from Horus to the Eutychia girl. "Um," was all I could think of. "You guys know each other?"

"Briefly," Horus answered. "Stand up Kane."

I did, and felt the heavy gaze of the three people. Eutychia, gaze narrowing with suspicion and hate. Eurus, looking like a lost dog. And the figure in the darkness.

"Let's go Carter." Horus said. And then he tapped my shoulder.

The last thing I saw was the man with horse hooves, looking at me with eyes of pity.

The moment I blinked, I was in a palace. Literally.

It was covered with marble tiles, and tapestries of people fighting monsters covered the walls. Giant windows hung from every angle, the moon glowing dimly in the night. I was standing in the middle of the room, probably looking like an idiot. And then, in the north part of the room, there was a golden throne. With Horus sitting on it. His expression managed to look calm and furious at the same time.

"Carter?" Horus questioned, tapping his fingers.

"Um…yeah?" I replied, trying to meet his eyes. He probably knew about Zia. Maybe Sadie had told him? I don't know. Acting insane was not the best way to gain help…

"Don't go there ever again."

"But I didn't even know what place that was," I protested, mind swirling with thousands of questions. What was that place anyways? Why did Horus tell me not to go there? Why did Horus know Eutychia? Who were Eutychia and Eurus anyways? I've read many books about Egyptian mythology, and there wasn't exactly a sign saying: 'Need to find a person who you don't know? Turn the next page!'. She had also had mentioned something about a Treaty. And lastly, who exactly was the figure in the darkness?

Horus frowned. "You mean there were none of them?"

"Them?" I asked. "Who are you talking about?"

His expression shifted suddenly, revealing a mask of nonchalance. "No one. Now, why are you on the flight to-"

"Miami?" I asked. "Oh." I started to rack my head for excuses. Now what would I say…

"Um," I began. "Sadie's…going to have a..."

"A…?" Horus prodded.

"A synchronized swimming competition," I lied. I doubt Sadie even knew how to swim-or did she? If she was here right now, not only was she going to yell at me for putting her in this situation, she would also chide me for being a bad liar.

Horus raised an eyebrow, looking like as if he didn't believe me. Luckily, he decided not to question that.

"Okay," he said.

That was it? I stared up to the god. There was something slightly…off about him this time. His mind seemed distracted. I shrugged my shoulders mentally. Normally I would think about this further, but right now I really wanted to get back and save Zia. Besides, this whole thing wasn't really important. Right?

"Carter?" Horus gave a hesitant smile. "When you're done with your sister's competition, go to the Brooklyn Museum. You might find something that will help you with your mission with Ra…although I strongly do not recommend that option."

"Ra?" I echoed. Then I remembered. "You mean you knew this, and you haven't told us?" My eyes narrowed into flints of suspicion.

"Be gone Kane." And with a flick of his hand, everything turned black.

"Carter!" Someone called my name from a distance. "Wake up, you bloody old canker!"

"What…?" I moaned. And once I opened them, I found myself staring straight into the eyes of my sister. Surprisingly, they weren't filled with their usual sarcasm. More of…fear was the most appropriate term.

"Thank God you're up," Sadie said. "You're harder to rise than a rock."

"Hey, it's not my fault that my ba got sent somewhere else-again," I said defensively, adjusting my position so that I could avoid the ringing pain my back was sending. "What's the emergency?"

"Another ba trip?" She shook her head. "Nah, tell it to me later. Anyways, the pilot said that there are some unexpected problems-which is pathetic, even for them," Sadie explained, rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to know if you heard it, because heck, you were drooling all over me. Again."

I scowled. "I don't drool."

"Oh yes you do," Sadie crowed.

Just before I could think of a comeback, suddenly the plan started to vibrate, rocking from side to side. A child shrieked, and Sadie flinched. Then it subsided, but then mutterings arose from the crowd.

"People," the voice of the flight attendant came from the speakers. "Don't worry, this is only a minor inconvenience. We will-"

And then that's when the plane started spiraling. Towards the sea.

_And it's not even ten minutes into the flight, _a voice thought in my head. _How rude._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**Jason Grace**

Barely a day into the quest, a certain son of Jupiter heard a cry of help in the distance, somewhere over the lapping waves.

His ears pricked up, surprised. What was that sound all about? Curiously, Jason looked at his other companions. Leo was somewhere by the tiller, controlling the ship smoothly by steering the wheel with confidence. Piper was helping the Hephaestus son, already better thanks to the supply of ambrosia and medicine onboard, pulling on of the strings that controlled the white sails that rippled gently in the sea breeze. Meanwhile, Annabeth was sitting crossed-legged on one of the benches, frowning while holding up a dusty old notebook. They didn't seem to hear anything unusual.

They were on a break, Annabeth and Jason tired of rowing. They were really worn out, and since the night didn't seem to hold any dangers, Leo had said that they could take a break. Jason was really glad too-although he'd like to spend more time with Piper. The two had barely spoken a word during the day, too busy in their own works to talk.

Jason let out a small sigh. The screams were probably a figment of his imagination. From experience, fatigue could injure a warrior in many ways. Deciding that he had nothing else to do, he stood up from his bench and walked over to Annabeth. Now she had a notebook by her side, eyebrows furrowing as she held up a pencil and was writing something on a piece of paper.

"Need any help?" Jason asked, sitting down next to her and glancing from the paper to the notebook into the drowsy grey eyes of the Athena girl.

Annabeth shook her head, flashing a weary smile. "Unless you count getting Valdez off my back, which is probably not going to work out since we need him, no."

Jason laughed. "What are those papers for?"

"These? Oh, just bits of information that I got about the Roman camp," Annabeth said. "I was wondering if you could help me with that…"

Suddenly, suspicion crossed his mind. What would someone like her want with that? Years of training flowed through his head, while Jason just narrowed his eyes. "And you want that information because…?" he asked, voice trailing off.

Annabeth shrugged her shoulders. "Knowledge," she said simply. "And that I'm not the type of person who likes to step into a war field with not even a slightest clue on what is going on. Besides, we're going to discover about it anyways-why not be prepared now?"

"You do have a point there." Jason mentally shook his head. Why did he ever doubt her? He knew the Greeks well already. From the bits of information that trickled slowly back into his head, the Greeks were a lot nicer than the Romans. Lenient too-but on the other hand, the Romans were more disciplined. Stricter, but a terror to face in battle.

"_Veni, vindi, vici,_" Jason muttered.

"What?" Annabeth pursed her lips, confusion momentarily appearing on her face. Then it vanished, with one of understanding. "Julius Cesar," she said. "I came, I saw, I conquered."

Jason nodded. "Exactly. The Romans are like that-except they probably device a plan first. Whenever they want something, they go there and grab the opportunity. And usually win."

"Smart," Annabeth murmured.

Jason chuckled. "You should see the Minerva kids. They're practically child prodigies."

Suddenly, Annabeth's eyes flashed with some sort of grey storm. "So you're saying that the Greek children of Athena aren't?" she challenged, looking furious.

"I-I didn't mean it that way," Jason protested, wondering why she was acting that way.

Annabeth snorted. "Sure, you didn't."

"Give it up Chase," Leo called from the wheel. "He didn't mean it that way."

The girl hesitated. Then genuine sincerity appeared on her face. "I'm sorry," Annabeth apologized. "I just…I don't know."

"It was probably your Greek instincts. Or something like that," Jason said thoughtfully. "It's alright."

"Greek instincts? I wonder how it'll be when we reach the Roman camp," Annabeth shuddered.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Piper asked, joining them and sitting next to Jason. She looked exhausted. "I'm taking a break." She explained, as Jason gently squeezed her hand.

"I don't know," Annabeth said. "It's just that-no offense Jason-but whenever I'm near you, my defenses seem to go higher. I think it's natural, Greeks have an old rivalry with the Romans."

"But I don't feel that way around him," Piper's face was clouded with confusion.

"You're used to him I guess," Annabeth shrugged. "Or it affects certain people."

"Well whatever it is, I'm sure we'll be fine," Jason said convincingly.

And that's when a loud sound that sounded like an explosion echoed in the distance. The sea rippled, and their echoes vibrated in Jason's ears. Maybe his instincts were correct after all. But there was one problem-what was that thing?

Piper flinched, tightening her grip on Jason's hand. Annabeth widened her eyes, while Leo narrowed his as he scanned the area. Jason didn't betray any emotions, but he was the same as the others: surprised and shocked. So maybe that was the sound he had heard? But it couldn't be possible…he didn't have extended hearing, could he…?

"There's nothing out of the blue," Leo reported. "But…oh."

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"I can see something rectangular in the distance…is that a plane wing?" Then Leo was fumbling through his tool belt, and seconds later his hands popped out with a pair of binoculars.

"They have binoculars in workshops?" Jason said, mystified. "And a plane wing? What's that doing there?" He knew the answer right after he said it.

"Don't ask, just listen," Leo said absentmindedly as he peered through the binoculars.

"Like you do," Annabeth commented under her breath.

Piper elbowed Annabeth lightly, grinning.

Leo looked away from the binoculars. He faced the three, a grim expression on his face. "It looks like a plane crash."

Piper's eyes looked like they were going to pop out from their sockets. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Leo confirmed. "I can see tiny dots of people in the distance. Looks like they're stuck there."

"Well, we can't exactly help them. We have to go," Annabeth said.

"What?" Piper cried. "There could be survivors there! Innocent people who could die!"

"Not our problem," Annabeth looked slightly troubled, but she waved her hand dismissively. "We can't just go rescuing every person we see."

"But we can't just let them die," Piper argued. Her kaleidoscope colored eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and disgust. "What would you do if your boyfriend was there?"

The words seemed to have a slight effect on the blonde haired girl. Finally, she sighed. "That's different. They're all just mortals, we don't even know if there are demigods or such. Besides, how do you think people would act if they were rescued by a bunch of kids?"

"Freaked out," Leo cut in the mini cat fight.

"They deserve a chance to live." Piper crossed her arms.

"But we don't deserve to get caught up into this mess, which could probably attract unwanted attention, meaning if we do attract unwanted attention, it'll delay our pace!" Annabeth yelled angrily, her emotions getting the best of her. "And we're already as late as it is. So I'm sorry Piper, but-"

"Wait." A sly expression crossed Piper's face. "You're not in charge of this whole thing," she said slowly.

"So?" Annabeth huffed.

"They get a chance to speak too." She looked from Jason to Leo, who were both edgily eyeing each other, trying not to get caught up. "What do you think?"

Leo gulped. "Um…I'm going to go with whatever Jason says."

Jason shot an angry look at the Hispanic boy, screaming mentally at Leo. _Thanks a lot for putting me in the spotlight! I really wanted to have the opportunity to anger either my girlfriend or a slightly deranged girlfriend hugger._

_No problem, _Leo's eyes seem to flash back, with a mixture of guilt. He looked down to the ground, avoiding his gaze.

Jason knew that he was in a bad situation. If he agreed with Annabeth, Piper would be seriously upset-well, maybe not as much as Annabeth-but still, upset. And Jason had enough problems as it was, with the whole saving-the-world-thing and trying-to-regain-his-memories-enough-for-them-to-survive-part-too.

But on the other hand, the Athena girl's anger could be pretty difficult to handle too. He wasn't so sure on how Annabeth was going to handle it, for him this was a small thing to argue about, but you never knew what she was going to do next. She had a good point too-they didn't know what dangers were going to be there, if there were any dangers in the first place. They couldn't risk any chances now though. Not when Gaia was hot on their trail, with a pack of her powerful allies surrounding them.

Either way, they were trapped. And either way, Jason knew he was going to both gain and lose something in the end. It was a no-win situation. Should he agree with Annabeth and ride off to save the world, or would the pressure of blood guilt be enough to side with Piper? Gods, why were girls so complicated?

"I think," Jason began, trying to think of words that would not anger the two, "that both of you have valid points. Annabeth is right, we don't have much time…but Piper's also correct. We can't just let them die."

"So what do you mean?" Piper asked.

Jason took a deep breath. "Maybe…we should check it out," he answered. "Just steer the boat several paces away, and check the situation out."

While Piper looked slightly relieved and happy, Annabeth's expression was solemn. "Don't say I told you so," she said darkly. "This is not going to be worth it."

"Who knows?" Piper countered, glaring at her. "Just because it wastes three seconds of our time, it doesn't mean that it'll delay meeting up with your unlucky boyfriend. Why he chose you in the first place, that's a surprise itself."

Annabeth bit her tongue, not daring to say anything. If looks could kill, everyone on the boat and the sea itself would've promptly fallen over and died.

Rolling his eyes at the petty fight, Leo nodded at Jason. "Mind if you raise the sail over there?" He asked, pointing to the sail nearest to the edge.

"Sure," he replied, trying to put the situation behind him. It was probably going to pass soon…they'd get over it.

Jason took a step closer to the rope. He pulled it and adjusted its position. The sail flew with the wind, and the Argo II trailed slowly along the indigo waters. Jason knew that he and Annabeth didn't have to row, because the breeze was getting stronger by the second. It didn't seem to be coming from the east, which was a good thing. He thanked Zeus for the opportunity, since he did _not_ want to row next to a sullen and temperamental girl.

As they got closer to the dots of people, Jason noticed that they were going away. They seemed to be on lifeboats the color orange. The orange boats rocked towards the opposite direction, heading somewhere else. His heart rose. Now it was becoming a win-win situation-Piper would be glad that they were heading to safety and Annabeth would be smug that she was right. _Thanks to the gods,_ Jason thought, hopefully that message would be heard by the one who was responsible.

"Told you so," Annabeth said smugly. Jason knew that things were going to turn out alright. "So, let's head back to the course?"

"Wait, give me a second to restart the coordinates," Leo said, furiously scribbling something on his palm. "So if we went three paces away…what?"

She groaned. "Never mind. I'll recalculate." Annabeth brought out a calculator from her backpack, and started to tap the numbers. "Hm…let's see…"

Piper looked at Jason straight in the eyes, and broke into a grin. "Glad to see they're alright."

"Yeah, me too," Jason said. He felt somewhat awkward, being around her. Not because she was weird or anything…it was just that there was another girl…another girl back there that he had a faint memory of….

He closed his eyes.

_A clash of swords. Sweat dripping down his back, and the harmony of his muscles screaming in pain. But he does not stop or complain-he has learned that pain is something to keep silent about. And it helped form a warrior, since the toughest soldiers were the ones who had endured the most._

_Jab. Twist. Dodge, and the counterattack. He cannot see his opponent because of the blur and the dark sky, but he can see the familiar flash of the Imperial Gold. The frenzy fight continues on, and then a grin breaks on his face._

"_I'm done," he says, flipping his sword and watches as it turns into a gold coin. He faces his opponent. "You win."_

"_Really Jas?" says a girl with long dark hair and olive skin. Her eyes are the color of the sea at night, surrounded by flecks of black. Beautiful. She puts her dagger by the hilt near her blue jeans, and looks up at him, smirking. "And the strongest camper surrenders. Now that's a story to be told."_

"_Hey, I was training all night with the Mars campers," he protests, holding his hands up in the air. "And after that, I was forced to carry all the lumber for the next few months for the fire. Plus-you're a good swordsman."_

"_Swordswoman," she corrects. "Get your terms right, or you might have to die. Plus, you shouldn't complain out loud-Lupa could claw your tongue out for that."_

"_Maybe it's because I'm tired?" He replies evenly, still smiling. He doesn't bother replying to the statement about Lupa, knowing it was true. Weakness was a sign of uselessness here._

_She shakes her head and takes a step closer to him. The scent of mint and sage surround him, making him feel slightly woozy. "No. Because I like you." Then, she puts her arms around his neck, her mouth curling into a smile. The pressure of her hands is gentle, yet firm at the same time._

"_Um…" he says nervously, adjusting the position his face to see if anyone was looking at him. There was nobody around-only the two of them and the shimmering stars above._

_She laughs. "Don't worry. Everyone's asleep by now. They won't notice."_

"_Great," he murmurs, pressing his lips into hers. They kiss. For a moment, the entire world is suspended. Time is nothing more but a monster that has been defeated. It's only the taste of peaches and sea salt that he tastes. Nothing else matters, except for her…_

_He, slowly but reluctantly, moves his face away from her. "I like you too Reyna," he says softly, looking deep into her deep blue eyes. "I like you very much."_

_Now all he can see is the joyous expression of her face._

"Jason? Yo, JG!"

"Should we pour a bucket of water on his face?"

"No way, he'll hyperventilate or something! It's better to let him finish the memory."

A sigh. "Aw man! I really wanted to dump some water!"

"Shut up Leo, and act like a man!"

"I'm not a man until I turn eighteen, therefore you cannot tell me to act like a man. HA!"

"Ha yourself,"

"Not until you do too."

"Ew, you're so weird Valdez."

"No where have I heard that before….?"

"Probably the first hundred times the probation officer said it."

"Touché."

"Oh gods, he's not breathing. What do we do?"

"I don't know…maybe CPR?"

"You're not touching my boyfriend like that!"

"Who said I was ever going to do that, you slut?"

"I'm not a slut!"

"Tell that to your mother. I'm sure she knows the reason why."

"She's not always like that, you…you…"

"What, trying to find an insult?"

"I don't need an insult to know that practically everyone in camp hates you now."

"Then why didn't you just call me an evil megalomaniac?"

"Because that term is used for Gaia."

"Point taken."

Jason could only listen to the conversation in horror and amusement. This always happened to him after he experienced a memory. It took some time for him to adjust to his surroundings, but in the meantime all he could do was to keep his eyes shut and hope for the best.

"But still-"

"I don't need to hear your words. You've been acting like a-"

"A what? An evil megalomaniac?"

"Exactly."

"Look, I'm sorry! Apology accepted?"

"Not when it's fake."

"What, you want me to go down on my knees and send you roses?"

"Sure."

"Let's get this straight. I have worse problems that you do-"

"But that doesn't mean that you have to take it out on all of us! You've been acting like a whole different person the entire two months! It's not fun to hang out with you anymore-"

"Who told you that?"

"Will Solace."

"Stupid Apollo boy."

"Still! I know it's not fun losing your boyfriend, but please-take it out on a pillow or something."

"We should use the bucket of water!"

"LEO!"

And that sound jolted Jason awake. He opened his eyes in surprise, and cried a curse in pain as something…hard hit his forehead.

"Jason!" Piper yelled, rushing over to him. "Are you alright?"

"Erm…yeah," was all he could manage.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "A memory? What was it about?"

Just as Jason was about to mutter an excuse, not ready to tell her, let alone Piper the dream about the girl, Leo called out something that was drowned down by the roar of the waves.

"What?" Piper asked.

"I see people!" Leo yelled back, peering once more through the telescope. "Three figures!"

"You're kidding me right?" Annabeth asked anxiously. "Are they coming this way?"

"Seems like it," Leo answered, squinting his eyes. "I don't know why, but it seems like that one of them is unconscious or something…they're just letting him lie down on the boat. Either that, or he's dead."

"So why didn't they come onto the lifeboats?" Jason spoke out loud. The situation was slightly perplexing.

"Maybe they're one of us," Annabeth suggested. "Greeks. Or Romans."

The four looked at one another, eyes meeting. Jason cleared his throat. "Maybe…we should have a look?" he said quickly.

Piper nodded. "Yeah. They might need help or something…"

"Or they could be monsters in disguise," Annabeth finished.

Leo sighed. "Let's just take a look."

With his words, the boat sailed forward, heading towards the three people. Jason stood up, and despite his exhaustion, he tottered and wobbled all the way to the deck. He stood up near Leo, trying to gain his sea legs. And then he saw what he had meant.

There were three people indeed, on the similar orange lifeboats. From a distance, he could make out a lithe girl with blonde hair, and seemed to be throwing her hands up in the air. On her right was a boy with dark features and olive skin, while on her left was an African-American with curly black hair, lying on the boat. The dark haired boy and the blonde seemed to be arguing, for what reason Jason didn't know. Finally, the boy pointed to their boat-the Argo II. The girl widened her eyes, and stared from the boat to the boy. She put a palm to her face, and muttered something.

"No way…" Annabeth mouthed as she joined Leo and Jason, Piper right behind her. "I thought he was searching in the South…."

"Who is that?" Piper asked.

"Nico di Angelo," Annabeth said. "Son of Hades. The only child so far in fact."

"Do you recognize the other two?"

"Nope," Annabeth said, narrowing her eyes. "I've never seen them before."

Nico, the boy, started waving his hands furiously in the air. The girl slowly took her hand up, and waved in a way that was both dramatic and mocking. Leo stifled a smirk by biting his lips.

"Yo!" He said, waving a hand to the three. "Do you want to get on or not?"

**Yo, wassup peeps? Haven't done an AN in a long time-I was too lazy and hurrying to whip up the next chapter XDD Sorry about that! Was supposed to update yesterday, but had no Internet Access for the rest of you who don't know XDD Anyways, I just wanted to say hi to ya'll, and thanks for the people who reviewed, added this to their Story Alerts or such, 'cause a review a day makes my day! Dank u Well also to the regular reviewers-they tolerate my late updates XD So hopefully you enjoyed this, and have a nice day! And BTW, school's starting here, so I'll try to update faster! Have a nice life!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Um…*ducks behind pillar* I am soooo sorry for not updating! School started, so I barely got the chance to go online, let alone make a chapter! Okay, and I suffered from writer's block too…but still! Gah, I'm making this up to you guys by making this chapter longer-hope you do enjoy it! And thanks for Story Alerting this and such, and to the reviews-if you like it, heck just review! I bet you want to read this now…so yeah. *stops rant* Oh, and if you want to see me unrelated work that's not fanfiction-go to Inkpop and search for Experiment Number 2228. Yep, that's me! XD**

**Chapter Six**

**Sadie Kane**

What? It's not my bloody fault that the plane happened to crash, so stop thinking that I had something to do with it. Okay, maybe a teensy bit. But still!

So when the plane was about to crash, the only thought that was ringing in my head? _I'm never going to turn thirteen, _I thought miserably, while gripping onto the arm seat for balance and for something to keep myself from hurling my head towards the seat in front of me, the occupants screaming at the top of their lungs. The sound almost made me barf, they sounded like an orchestra of the dead. And the mention of the word 'dead', a certain guy in a leather jacket and swoon-worthy face popped in my head. _ I'm never going to see Anubis again. Oh yeah, that's right-I'll see him when I die. That's quite reassuring. _Maybe that was two thoughts. But who's counting?

Sheer terror crawled up my spine. Panic swirled around my mind, clouding the actual sane thoughts I had left. Dimly, I wondered if it would be good to stand up, but then realized that the shaking and vibrations of the floor would send me on the ground. And the worse thing was, I couldn't use magic-my sources weren't as big as the time I was hosting Isis, I doubted that she would help me now, and even if I had the proper amount of energy to conjure another Ha-Di spell [yes Carter, using destruction spells in a time of disaster is always a good idea], the mortals would think I was a freak and go into full-on-chaos mode. My instincts told me that wasn't a good thing.

My eyes swerved to Carter. His brown eyes shone with fear and surprise at the same time, hair standing on the edge like it was attached to static. "We're going to die die die!" He yelled, breath coming out in hurried strokes.

Yeah, he wasn't much help here. Guess that you would do the same thing if say; your life was at risk. Either that or it was just my brother being a complete idiot again.

Besides, even if he was calm, Carter was never the best at using magic-I was usually the one who thought of enchantments and words while he distracted the monsters with weapons. So basically, I was stuck in a very complex puzzle. And if I didn't win this time, I was going to be in a worse situation than a man in Vegas at a poker match-on the losing side.

I quickly scanned the place. If I tried to snap Carter out of his funk, we'd probably die before I got the chance to come up with a plan with him. On the other hand, with my head not exactly coming up with a plan at the moment, we'd still die. Which choice would I take?

"Duh. To survive," I muttered.

"Passengers!" The voice of the female stewardess once more rang from the speakers, her voice shaking slightly. "Please do not panic, this will only cause more distraction for the pilot. We are currently trying to find a solution, so please attach the oxygen masks to your mouth and remember to take care of yourself before attaching the mask to any children or anyone incapable of doing such actions. Sit down and take deep breaths, and relax yourselves. Thank you for your-"

"HOLY CHRIST!" another voice bellowed, from the intercom but certainly not the stewardess earlier. "We're all out of fuel!"

"!" Then, all you could hear was the static of the intercom and the breaths that people took as the speaker hung up.

Frightened murmurs ran down the seats, people exchanging wary looks and screams with one another. While my brother was still panicking, I was trying to figure out how to put on an oxygen mask. Hey, nobody pays attention to the people demonstrating those things anymore-since there's a ninety-eight percent chance that you'll get out of there, safe and unharmed-unless of course, you're scarred from the unfortunate incident where the food on the plane is horrid. But so far, I don't think anybody has died from it. I guess.

As I puzzled over the contraption, I barely noticed Carter tapping my shoulder. "Sadie," he said loudly.

"What?" I snapped, giving him a frosty look. "Are you done panicking now?"

Carter snorted. "I wasn't panicking in the first place."

"This is coming from the dude who said we're going to die," I said icily. "Want a video to prove it?"

"No thanks," Carter stammered quickly. "What I meant is that this plane is weird. Something or someone is causing all of this. Don't you think so?"

"I don't believe mentally impaired citizens most of the time, so pardon me if I say that's a horrid idea." I tried to chose the right words, something which would not drive him over the edge of a fifty story cliff, and you all know how hard that it for me. As I couldn't find anything else to say, I decided to tell him, "You should put on your mask. We're probably going to crash land."

Then, Carter said the words that would change our lives-for the greater good, I still didn't know.

"We can shift into birds."

My jaw dropped open wide. "You-you're kidding me right?" I asked weakly, memories of my previous experiences of shape-shifting into a bird rushing quickly into my head like a cascade of a river current. Well…let's just say that I suck at it. Badly. There's no need to tarnish my already rusty reputation.

Carter sighed. "Look, I know that you're the worst shifter in the world. But unless you want to meet your death in approximately ten minutes, that's the only choice we have."

"Stop thinking so negative, you're making things worse," I muttered darkly. I swore to myself I was never going to do that again-and I was keeping to that promise.

"Sadie-" he began.

"Carter," I mimickered his tone. "Why don't we just do something to help this situation?"

"Kids these days," the man next to Carter said out loud, shaking his head.

Carter and I looked at each other for a moment. Then we let out slow laughs. Slow, but at least it was a start. I'm sure that my laugh sounded slightly shrill, and Carter's was slightly forced.

"So…" I hesitated. "It seems like a good plan…but only someone insane would do it."

Carter gave a small smile, with brown sparks lighting up in his eyes. "Which is probably the best way to describe you."

I laughed again. But then seconds later, I felt a hand tap my shoulder.

"Excuse me." A boy next to me said, holding onto my seat for support. His olive skin and dark hair made him stand out from the crowd, and looked around thirteen or so…not to mention he was wearing genuine Italian leather combat boots. Which added to the cuteness factor. Wait, am I seriously crushing on another guy?

"What?" I asked, blue eyes meeting black. His face seemed devoid of expression, in fact it was almost…motionless. That decreased the cuteness factor.

Carter stiffened. "Sadie…" He warned.

"I couldn't help overhearing that you were deciding to change into birds," the boy said, stuffing his hands into his jeans.

"Must have sharp hearing for a kid your age," Carter remarked shrewdly.

He gave a low chuckle. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Now, are you a demigod? Or one of the big three? 'Cause it can't only be me who's causing the whole thing."

"Demigod? Big Three?" I echoed his words, a hell lot more confused than I was thirty seconds ago. "Wait, you caused the entire thing?"

"Keep quiet," the boy said anxiously, glancing from side to side. "I don't want them to know we're here-"

"Who are you talking about?" Carter asked. "And who the heck are you?

"The Big Three. You know, Hades, Zeus and Poseidon," the boy explained, a bewildered expression crossing temporarily in his pale features. "I'm Nico di Angelo. Son of Hades, and I don't know exactly what might be chasing us."

Just great. We had another loony dude here.

"Demigod…as in, other mythologies?" He scrunched up his eyebrows. "You mean…Greek and Roman mythology?"

"I don't think there's Roman, but yeah, Greek," Nico nodded. "I think you may be the son or daughter of Aphrodite or Hecate, since they're the only two who can shift into doves or use magic. Are you two dating or something?"

"What? Heck no!" I exclaimed, shaking my head furiously. God, why did everyone think that? Just because we were different colors… "We're siblings you stupid prat!"

"Sadie," Carter cautioned. He turned to Nico. "Sorry about that. She gets…worked up easily."

Nico shrugged. "I get that too. Reminds me of my step mom."

"Okay, now that we're all settled down," I said firmly, "do you have any escape plan perhaps?"

"…wing it?"

I gave my best death glare at Nico. "Then why did you come here in the first place?"

"Because I was thinking about saving the plane." Nico's dark eyes fell on the two of us. "And I think I need your help."

"Kids these days," the man muttered angrily. "Thinking that they're sons and daughters of death."

Nico said something that was so low I could barely hear it. "That's an appropriate term."

I couldn't help it. My mouth let out a snicker. He kind of reminded me of Anubis…with their combat boots, tanned face and personality…and the good thing was-he my age.

Now why did I just think that?

"About the Greek thing," Carter began, ruining my train of thoughts. "I think we'll have to explain this to you. You see, we're not exactly Greek-"

Before Carter could continue, an announcement blared from the speakers. "Attention, this is a friendly reminder from American Airlines! We have decided to do an emergency landing. So please unlatch your oxygen mask and calmly head towards the nearest emergency exit. For the closest path to your seat or instructions or how to prepare your life vest, please refer to the manual across your seat for guidance. Thank you for your continued generosity and cooperation in-"

"HOLY CHRIST-"

"John!"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"I guess that's no need for that," I noted.

"That was already obvious in the first place," Carter said.

"So what were you going to say?" Nico asked.

"Um…" Carter looked slightly nervous. "We're not exactly Greek. See, it's kind of different in our case…"

As my brother started to prepare for his usual and boring explanations, I cut in to save his already ruined reputation. "We're Egyptian, blood of the pharos. Yeah, that's basically it. So you're Greek? Never heard of that before."

"You're taking this lightly," Nico remarked.

"What, you want me to freak out?" I teased.

"Wait-there's really Greek…gods?" Carter's expression was grim, but also as if his worse suspicions were confirmed.

"Yes," Nico confirmed. "But how did you know that?"

"See, it's kind of a long story-"

And then the doors of the plane opened. The plane made a full stop, although we were still hovering above the ground. Nico's face looked queasy. "Not this again," he complained.

"What?" I wondered out loud.

"This always happens when I fly-or try to fly," he moaned, clutching my arm seat tighter. "Zeus doesn't exactly like me to fly, because my dad kinda hates him. So yeah…"

"Are you going to barf on my or something?" I asked warily. I did not want a repeat of the Cara incident.

"Nope, I can _usually _control it…"

"Usually?"

"Guys," Carter heaved a sigh.

"Sorry," we both said in perfect synchronization.

Blushing slightly, I handed my backpack to Carter. "Hey, could you transport this into the Duat?" All my belongings were inside, including my passport and cash. So if he lost it, I was going to kill him.

"Sure," Carter nodded. "But why are you asking me?"

"Because you did nothing the past few hours except drool?" I said.

Carter winced, an unhappy and an embarrassed expression on his face. "Not funny." But he still got it, murmured a few words, and within a blink of an eye the backpack was gone.

"Did you use shadow traveling?" Nico stared at the empty spot where the backpack had been in disbelief.

"Nah, just transported it into the Duat," I said. "Why, that's the weirdest thing you've ever seen?"

"I've done worse." Nico nodded towards the nearest exit. "Unless you have a death wish for my father-"

"Wait, you're dad's Osiris?" I blurted out. Not good. If his dad was my father…this would complicate matters slightly. And then again, why was I crushing on another death dude?

Nico gave me a strange look. "No, Hades."

"Oh." My cheeks were probably turning red by now. If Liz and Emma were here…I'd be in a worse situation. And they'd tease me nonstop, and probably flirt in the process with him. Oh, bloody, bloody-

After Carter transported his backpack and when we had figured out how to use the life vests, the three of us headed towards the exit. We got the lifeboats from the still smiling flight attendant, and when the slide-ramp thing was there, Carter and Nico looked at me. "You first," they both said in unison.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Men are rubbish," I said out loud, not really caring if they heard it.

"So are women," I heard Carter say to Nico. They laughed.

I put the inflatable lifeboat beside me. I didn't really need it though; I could probably create a boat thanks to my powers in a second. I closed my eyes, and slid down from the ramp, to the blue colored waves that looked like they were waving their arms in the air, inviting me to come and take a swim. I wish.

Just when I was about to reach the sea, I pulled the string of the lifeboat. It quickly inflated open, and I threw it into the sea just as I landed into the water with a splash. The icy cold was the first thing that registered in my brain. The sinking sensation was the second.

I kicked my legs up, struggling for air. In a split second, I reached the surface, gasping and gulping the fresh air. I thanked the Lady Luck for my grandparents forcing me to go to swimming lessons two summers ago-although I pretty much screamed and did badly in every session, the skills I had gained had probably helped me with the whole saving my life issue.

Feeling water stain my ribs, I went on my lifeboat, nearly slipping thanks to the mixture of rubber and water. On the second try I got up, trying to regain my senses back. Where were Carter and the Nico dude?

As if answering my thoughts, another splash echoed from a distance. I quickly swerved my head back, blonde hair covering my eyes temporarily and the movement almost knocking me back into the waters. But it wasn't one of the two though-it was a girl, with brown hair looking pissed. "This wasn't in the ticket!" she yelled. "I demand a refund!"

Yeah, that probably wasn't one of them.

I sighed. Deciding to wait a little longer, I looked around the small lifeboat to check for any supplies. I found a miniature first aid kit that contained bandages, a book of survival tips and some matches; oars; an ad to a pizza delivery in Orlando and another one which advertised a shoe store in New York. I stuffed the ads into the first aid kid, and brought out the oars.

I experimentally padded around with the oars. The boat kept on spinning around, not going in the directions I wanted it to. Cursing, I tried again. No luck.

A couple of minutes and futile attempts, I finally could manage the basics-but my hands were aching with pain at holding such weight for some time. I ignored the sounds, and scanned the small crowd of lifeboats once more. There was no fourteen year old boy, nor a cute looking guy with dark hair.

"People, head this way!" The flight attendant gestured with her hand towards the left. "Please, follow!"

Amidst the grumbles and whines, I was starting to panic slightly. What would I do now? If I lost them, I would receive a bunch of scolding from my dead mum and the king of the dead (or maybe another king of the dead), my dad. Lovely.

And that's when I heard a loud bang in the distance.

I nearly jumped back, almost hitting the waves. Surprisingly, all the other people didn't react-it was probably the usual glamour that mortals saw. Or maybe the thought it was just a sound of a kid jumping down with a cannonball. I didn't know much, but what I knew was when mortals don't hear stuff that you hear-bad sign. As in monster sized bad.

Just in case though, I muttered, "_L'mun_." If I had successfully did the spell-which I hope so-the theory was that I'd be invisible. Maybe reading one of the scrolls Cleo asked me to read was a good thing after all. For a good measure I brought out my wand that was in my pockets.

Making sure I didn't bump into anyone, I slowly maneuvered my way towards the place, hoping that the noise held a friendly help, which hopefully had cookies. Cookies and milk would be so good now…

[Carter just called me a baby. I punched his nose, sorry for the wait.]

Anyways, a voice stopped me cold. "We meet again, di Angelo," a voice hissed. "And I see you've made another friend aside from the Chase girl and the Jackson boy. Honestly, when are you going to find some friends your age, instead of playing with toy skeletons…which I could easily defeat?"

"Probably because they have bigger brains that you do," Nick retorted, an edge in his voice. "What, so you played with the clouds?"

Right in front of me was Nico and Carter, both in their own lifeboats, looking tense and wary. In front of them was the same brown haired girl who had complained about the airplane ticket. In her hands was a miniature spinning vortex of air, the other a gold looking sword that suspiciously resembled lightning. Carter's _khopesh_ was out, meaning this wasn't a friendly friend with cookies.

"Actually, the stars," the girl admitted. "But that's not that point. The point is…I have his-" she nodded to Carter- "-sister's lives in his hands. So if he does what I say…maybe I'll let you son of Hades die a quick death."

"Who said I was dying in the first place?" Nico snarled.

"Wait, you have my sister?" Carter looked like as if someone had punched him in the face. "Where?"

The girl smiled wickedly. "Oh, somewhere," she said airily.

No way was I going to let this go on. Narrowing my blue eyes, I switched of the spell with the flick of my wand. "Hullo?" I called, making sure that I sounded more British than usual. "Anyone there?"

As Carter and Nico turned to face me, the girl's face turned pale. "I-I…" she stammered. "She's a…how do you say it in Egyptian? Shabti, yes-"

I gave a smirk. "Could a shabti do this?" I pointed my fingers at the girl. "_Ha-di_!" I exclaimed, just when Carter yelled, "Sadie, I don't think that's-"

Too late. The sea rippled. Then, a wall of water was formed, started to float towards the girl like a huge surfing wave. Unfortunately, it was also headed towards Carter and Nico. Bad move.

Before I could react, a flash of darkness spread through the sea. I closed my eyes on pure instinct, somehow knowing that if I opened my eyes something bad would happen. Even with my eyes closed I could make out shades of grey and black. Once the silent hum stopped, I opened one blue eye. I didn't like what I saw.

Nico was still there, looking weary and tired. And the girl and Carter were nowhere in sight.

I turned to Nico angrily, trying to float closer towards him, prepared to punch. "Where the HELL is my brother!" I demanded, furious to the bone.

"I don't know!" Nico replied, with the same amount of vehemence…and weirdly, sadness. "He just…disappeared-"

"And I supposed our dear friend went with her." I rubbed my hands together, prepared to swing a punch.

"No, Sadie-" Nico pleaded. "Just listen-"

Then a dark body appeared in the waters.

Needless to say? I screamed. For the first time in the short life of Sadie Kane.

Because what would your reaction be if you saw, say, your brother's body in the waters?

Surprisingly, Nico didn't react that much. "That's it?" he said out loud. He motioned towards me. "I think he's still alive, but I need some help getting him out of there…"

"Just ask," I grumbled.

Together, we lifted Carter's body into his lifeboat. His breath was slow and paced, but at least he was breathing. I didn't dare do another spell, partly because the spell earlier had drained myself and I sucked at healing magic-I couldn't even heal an ant. Water clung to his clothes tightly, like a mother hugging her child.

I grabbed one part of his boat, trying to steer his and mine at the same time. "I think we have to go now," I said through gritted teeth.

"Wait, what?" Nico asked.

"How can I trust you if you nearly killed my brother?" I asked, really pissed.

"You're the one who nearly killed all of us!" Nico protested.

"And that's supposed to make up for all of that?" I seethed. "Di Angelo, you are so going down-"

"Annabeth!"

I facepalmed. "Who the heck is that? Your girlfriend?"

He glared at me. "A friend," he said, voice clipped. "Unless you want your brother's life to be saved, they're your only hope."

"So I guess we have no choice, ay?"

And that's how my life basically blasted to pieces.


	7. I'm Alive!

**Hi guys! :D Now, I know I haven't updated this in like, a year—I suck, don't I?—but I'm planning to continue on this soon. I was just stuck in some sort of hiatus, you know? Like I didn't feel like writing. Well, thanks to the Serpent's Shadow, I've finally come up with a few ideas now. I might also edit back the chapters, since I think some work needs to be done. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for disappearing out of nowhere and let you know who are actually reading this know I'm alive . . . and to expect the seventh chapter soon. I swear, it'll come! xD**


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